OPM icon Claire de la Fuente passes away

VETERAN singer Claire de la Fuente passed away Tuesday morning due to cardiac arrest. She was 62.

Claire de la Fuente FACEBOOK PHOTO

This was confirmed by composer-music producer and family friend Jonathan Manalo on Facebook with a simple, “Rest in peace Tita Claire de la Fuente.”

The OPM icon dubbed as “The Karen Carpenter of the Philippines” and “Asia’s Sweetest Voice” is known for her hit songs “Sayang,” “Minsan-Minsan” and “Nakaw Na Pag-ibig”.

She is also one of the legendary Jukebox Queens in the 1970s alongside Eva Eugenio, Imelda Papin and the late Didith Reyes.

De la Fuente was once elected president of the Integrated Metro Bus Operators Association (IMBOA), whose members make up 70 percent of all bus operators in Metro Manila. In 2003, de la Fuente made headlines when she spearheaded a boycott of the color-coding scheme that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) had imposed for a week on all public utility vehicles as part of a traffic experiment.

De la Fuente’s son Gregorio Angelo de Guzman was linked to the alleged rape-slay of flight attendant Christine Dacera back in January.